Here Are Tonight's Winners

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Who is going to play in the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship game Monday Night? For fans of the Spartans and the evil Dookies I have both good and bad news for you.In the opener I think the majority of folks don’t feel Butler is a huge threat to Michigan State. The reason for that is simple. Its Butler. However that is faulty reasoning. This team plays great defense, they have not given up 60 points in this tournament yet. They are tough and they rebound well. They do not have much depth up front, which MSU must take advantage of. Getting Matt Howard in early foul trouble should be an emphasis for Tom Izzo in the first half. The other point of emphasis for Izzo’s troops should be ball possession. They can’t turn the ball over, because Butler is very efficient at scoring points off turnovers as Kansas State and Syracuse can attest. Gordon Hayward must be held to below 20 for MSU to win. Plus the Spartans can not shoot a low percentage at the free throw line,this game will be too close for them to miss critical free throws. The money point spread has dropped from Butler being favored by a point and a half down to just one point.

Michigan State’s experience and depth up front will be the difference as the Spartans prevail by 3.

As for the nightcap. This is not a Duke team that is timid. They play hard,they bang and are relentless. West Virginia is much the same, but I give Duke the advantage because West Virginia’s vaunted 1-3-1 defense is vulnerable to way too many open three-point shots. Do not expect Kyle Singler to go 0 for 10 like he did against Baylor. I would love to see West Virginia pull the upset just to see Coach K’s scrunched up face more scrunched than usual. But, unfortunately it’s not going to happen. Duke wins it by 7.

So what is the good and bad news for fans of Duke and MSU? The good news is I picked you to win. The bad news is my picks are usually wrong.